Anyway... this story is incredibly scary. I heard on the news last night that 6 men were seriously ill in hospital after taking part in a trial of a new anti-inflammatory drug. Shit, I thought, If six of them are in hospital that suggests it's not an obscure allergic reaction. Then later I heard that there were only 8 people in the trial. Shit, I thought, if 6 out of the 8 people who were in the trial were so ill (like, multiple organ failure, intensive care type of ill) then something has gone really wrong. Then, later still, I heard that 2 of the 8 men in the trial had had placebos (and were fine...).
So basically, the only 6 men to have taken this trial drug have become really ill.
The young men were being paid to take part in the early stages of a trial for the drug TGN1412 which is designed to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia.
But within hours of taking it on Monday, six volunteers had to be admitted to intensive care - a further two had been given a placebo.
Northwick Park Hospital's intensive care director Ganesh Suntharalingam said two were in a critical condition, and the other four were serious but showing some signs of improvement.
He added his team had been doing everything possible in this "unique set of circumstances".
"The drug, which is untested and therefore unused by doctors, has caused an inflammatory response which affects some organs of the body," he said.
Ms Marshall, 35, whose boyfriend is critically ill, said the normally healthy 28-year-old barman's face was so puffed, he "looks like the Elephant Man".
She said: "His friends cannot even face seeing him. I have to stay there because I'm looking beyond all the wires and the puffiness.
"This is not leukaemia, this is not pneumonia, this is not something they know how to deal with." (Read more...)
When I was at Uni, several of my friends regularly took part of medical trials and testings to get a £few, and while people knew it was a bit risky, it was generally thought that by the time anyone actually swallows anything, it would be as safe as it can be. Makes you wonder, and clearly others are concerned, too.
Something has gone horribly wrong in this London trial yesterday. I don't think we know yet whether this was a horrendous accident that noone could have predicted, or whether there has been a big mistake made somewhere. I guess time will tell, and am hoping they all are ok soon.
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Technorati tags: referral links; drug trials; incurable_hippie; medical ethics.
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2 comments:
It never ceases to amaze me the things that people type in their search engines.
By the way, I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while. Here I was trying to build a friendship with you (Well, as good a friendship as one can have on the internet.) and I go and abandon you. Not very nice of me, was it? I intend to remedy that, that is if you don't mind and are not angry with me for being gone and not commenting for so long.
Hey hey, not angry at all! Life takes over sometimes and we can have more or less time, or more or less motivation, or whatever. It's all fine :)
Lovely to hear from you, in any case.
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